NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of North Carolina of last decade

6. T. J. Warren – NC State

A consensus top 30 prospect in the class of 2012, Warren was certainly a prize on the recruiting market a decade ago. The 6’8 forward from Durham inevitably chose NC State, sticking somewhat close to home and playing for Mark Gottfried with the Wolfpack. Warren spent just two seasons playing college ball, but really emerged as a top player in the game during that second collegiate campaign.

Warren’s freshman season was very solid, he had a 31-point, 13-rebound outburst over Florida State, but his second season was just special. Over that sophomore year, Warren averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Wolfpack. He had multiple 40-point games near the end of the season and scored no less than 20 points in each of his last nineteen games, helping the Wolfpack to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

After leading the entire nation in field goals as a sophomore, Warren was named ACC Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American. His freshman year has been impressive, even for a top-rated recruit, but his emergence as a second-year player was phenomenal, becoming one of the ACC’s most efficient and explosive players. Skipping out on the rest of his college eligibility, Warren was drafted in the middle of the first round of the NBA Draft and has spent his last eight years playing in the NBA.